Stronger(What Doesn't Kill You)
by uoduck
Summary: One night when Oliver is about to turn in after a busy night of patrolling, he encounters a couple of assholes and a dog.


AN:

I don't own Arrow or Harry Potter.

Also, this takes place during Season 1 of Arrow.

The title of this fic is taken from the song by Kelly Clarkson of the same name.

* * *

Just as Oliver was about to head back to his club after patrolling the city, he heard a loud but pained bark. He raised an eyebrow and decided to check it out, following the continued barking and growling as it grew more and more aggressive. As he grew closer, he could hear teenage boys yelling and generally being asses of themselves at... Oliver pulled out his phone that he used when he was suited up and checked the time. The teenage boys were being asses of themselves at nearly 11:30at night. Or he assumed they were being assholes.

When he came upon the scene, he flinched inwardly. A couple of teenage boys were taunting a clearly injured big dog and had cornered it. One of the boys had a knife in his hand and it had blood on it. It wasn't too hard for Oliver to connect the dots; boys cornering a dog that had a knife wound and one of the boys Oliver could see had a knife. And even though Oliver went through what had happened to him on the Island, he still had a soft spot for dogs.

He didn't draw and knock his bow as these guys were still teenagers. Though then again, if they had hurt a dog, who knew what they would go on to do. And he was unwilling to let an injured, innocent dog walk around Starling City when he could do something about it.

"Hey!"

* * *

As soon as Oliver had dispatched the kids(not killing them, just scaring them), he quietly walked up to the dog. It was a big dog, maybe about 26 inches and roughly 70 pounds if he was any judge of dog weight. It was definitely some kind of shepherd, mostly light brown with a black muzzle and snout, along with long legs and a somewhat lean body. Oliver would have thought that injured dogs, especially this one because it didn't have a collar, would have growled at him as he probably looked and smelled like the boys.

But the dog only looked at him with deep green eyes and nodded its' head at him as if thanking him.

Oliver lifted an eyebrow at it then was about to take off when he thought differently. The dog was injured and despite the fact that it was probably feral, that wound needed taking care of. And he could see no signs of rabies or anything else. Though as the dog stared at Oliver, its' eyes seemed to have more intelligence in them than other dogs that Oliver had met.

"Hey, you want to come with me? I have food with me," Oliver murmured though that was a lie. He didn't have any food in the lair but there was food at the Queen mansion. Maybe the dog would be willing enough to come with him without putting up a fight.

"I'm going to come closer, okay?" Oliver again whispered, holding out his hands in a calming gesture. Again the dog seemed to know what he was going to do as it lay down, presenting the side with the wound. The wound, as Oliver padded closer, was small enough for a pressure bandage.

Oliver reached into his small kit that he brought with him and brought out the only bandage that he had and glanced at the dog again. It was staring at him calmly and gestured with its' nose to the wound, as if saying get on with it. Oliver shook his head at the trust the dog was granting him and pressed the bandage to the wound and taping it there with bandage from his kit. As he touched the wound, he heard the dog start to whine low in its' throat. Oliver reached one hand to stroke the dog's flank, hoping that it would soothe the animal. He would sew the wound up back in the lair.

Once that was done, the dog glanced at it then stood up and started to take a few shaky steps. Oliver's eyes widened as the dog proceeded to walk off as soon as it had steadied itself but just as Oliver decided he would never see the dog again, it walked back to him and touched its' cold nose to his hand. The dog gave an agitated yip and glanced at him.

"You coming with me then?"

The dog gave a quiet bark and waited for Oliver. He blinked then repacked his kit and took off for his club, hearing the dog follow behind at a slower pace, occasionally giving a quiet pained bark.

* * *

The dog was near to keeling over by the time Oliver arrived at the club. As Oliver walked around to the back, he startled when he saw the dog come up to walk alongside him, almost leaning on Oliver. He raised an eyebrow then sighed. He knelt down to look the dog in the eyes and studied it. The dog stared at him, searching for something.

The dog seemed to have found what it was looking for a minute later and sighed. Oliver reached out his arms and the dog slowly walked into his arms and let Oliver scoop it up.

"Ooof, you're heavy," Oliver murmured then stilled as he felt the dog curl into his chest and promptly passed out. Though he did notice that there was just the normal amount of heat coming from the dog so the animal wasn't ill or anything like that. "But not too heavy."

Oliver managed to open the door to the club somehow with the dog still in his arms and went over to the hidden door at the back. He looked down at the dog, who was still unconscious, then glanced at the keypad that would allow him entrance to his... Felicity would call it a lair or den, he was very sure of that. Oliver chuckled quietly then set his mind to his task.

He pulled off a complicated maneuver that allowed him to keep the dog in his arms and type in the required numbers. He nudged the door open with his foot then strode down the stairs.

"Oliver, you're back!" Diggle called out.

Oliver saw him coming from the back of the den with a water bottle in his hand. Oliver stopped at the foot of the stairs, waiting. Felicity was typing hurriedly away at the computer station that she had installed and was just swiveling in the chair to face him with a smile. Though when she saw what he was holding in his arms, she gasped and stood up. Diggle had a small smile on his face but then walked over to the table in the center of their workspace and cleared it off.

"What happened? Oliver?" Felicity exclaimed, coming over to stand in front of him. One of her hands started to reach out but she apparently thought better of it.

"I overheard four teenage boys taunting this dog," Oliver replied, watching his two partners. Diggle was already getting out the bandages and the first kit. Oliver was pretty sure that Diggle kept a well stocked first aid kit down here, including some machines, after he failed to bring down the dark archer. "I scared them off with a warning but the dog was already injured."

"Taunting?" Felicity exclaimed, her eyes on the dog. "That's horrible!"

"It looks like the dog trusted you," Diggle finally commented as his gaze went from Oliver to the dog.

"Yes, it did seem to," Oliver replied, walking over to the table where Diggle had placed an old towel on it. He gently lowered the dog onto it then went to put his bow in its' case. "Actually, it seemed to be more intelligent than most dogs tend to be."

"Hmm," Diggle murmured, looking the dog over. "It looks like the kind of dogs that worked with my unit back in the war. They were very smart and loyal."

Oliver watched as Felicity walked over to the table and hesitantly reached out an arm to lay it on the dog's back. The dog startled a little, waking up and looking around at its' surroundings then turned to glance at Felicity. She gave a small smile in reassurance and the dog's tail wagged a little.

"That could be it," Oliver replied thoughtfully. He started to pull off his uniform and hang it up on its' pedestal then walked over to the table.

"The dog has no collar," Felicity commented, stroking the dog's back. The dog seemed to be really enjoying the attention though it squirmed away when Felicity accidentally went too close to the wound.

"Oops, I'm sorry!" Felicity exclaimed, looking stricken. The dog whined, turning it's head to face Felicity and licked her hand a little. She chuckled nervously but relaxed.

Oliver smiled, going over to wash his hands at the sink in the bathroom that he had had installed here. Once done with that, he strode over to the dog and pulled out a needle and some string.

"I assumed it to be a stray," Oliver replied.

Diggle came and lightly placed his hand on the dog's back, nodding at Oliver.

Oliver then drew out some of the local anesthetic that they had(Diggle had put some in the first aid kit) and injected it into the wound. Then they got to work sewing up the wound.

* * *

AN:

Okay, people, what kind of pairings would you like to see?

This could tentatively be Oliver/Harry or I could keep Harry unpaired.


End file.
